


Business Decision, Indeed

by MoonlightTyger



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Family, Family Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26135428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlightTyger/pseuds/MoonlightTyger
Summary: Téa finds a lost little boy while she and her friends are visiting KaibaLand. What follows gives her a better look behind the walls Kaiba has built around himself. Slightly Azureshippy. (Follow-up to my oneshot, "Closure", but that's not necessary to understand this.)
Relationships: Kaiba Seto/Mazaki Anzu | Tea Gardner
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Business Decision, Indeed

_Disclaimer: I do not own_ Yu-Gi-Oh! _or its characters; I am merely a fan who enjoys writing about them. All rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi. This is a work of fiction written for pleasure only, not for profit._

 _This is a follow-up to my oneshot_ Closure. _Though I have made references to certain events that took place in the manga, this work_ _ **does not comply**_ _with_ The Dark Side of Dimensions _movie as that takes place_ _ **in the manga continuity**_ **only** _. I do not consider this to be disingenuous to the series, as the YGO animé that most fans are familiar with starts with Duelist Kingdom. As with all my YGO works, I have elected to use the dub names and other select localizations._

_Please enjoy!_

* * *

It had been Yugi's idea to go to Kaiba Land. The last weekend of September: sun shining in a brilliantly blue sky, the clouds therein resembling white cotton candy. They _had_ to go.

Admittedly, the suggestion was met with some unexpected resistance from his friends. Joey and Bakura had readily agreed, but Tristan had been reluctant as Duke and Serenity had had much the same idea. He was not yet over the rejection...the idea that Serenity had chosen the "playboy" Devlin over Tristan's own level-headed protectiveness. If Joey were honest, he would not have chosen Duke for Serenity himself...but even he had noticed the changes in the older boy's demeanor since she had been in the picture. Duke was calmer, more relaxed...polite to his female admirers, but no longer so flirtatious as he had been in the past.

He treated Serenity like a queen — or perhaps 'duchess' would be a more appropriate term in their case! — truly, what more could Joey ask for? Serenity seemed happier, too: she was more confident, less shy. They were a good match for each other, though naturally this had caused some awkwardness between Tristan and the rest of the group. He had been very uncertain about going to Kaiba Land.

Téa could sympathize. Rejection was hard. Moving on was hard. She had not really wanted to go on the outing herself: memories resurfacing of that maniac who had blown up pagodas on the Ferris wheel. Had it not been for Atem — at that time, someone whom she thought was only another side of Yugi — she would probably be dead. Indeed, it was not so much the reminder of the sick man bent on murder and destruction so much as the absence of the 3000-year-old spirit who had watched over and protected them all so closely. Kaiba Land had not even been built at that point, but the correlations were nevertheless present, and strong.

" _He was_ married," she reminded herself firmly, thinking back once again to that fateful visit only a month ago. She'd been brooding over Atem's absence and wondering of her feelings for the millionth time when he came to visit...bringing not only his daughter but his ancient wife as well. Much to Téa's embarrassment, he had figured out her attraction to him long ago.

" _...While I could not remember my bride at the time, I knew from history itself that my position as Pharaoh made it very likely I had one." A pause. "I did my best not to give you any wrong impressions."_

And he had not done so. Indeed, she couldn't have imagined a gentler way to let her down. His daughter Meketatum was as gracious as he was, thanking Téa for her role in bringing Atem back to them.

" _Please know that the Veil between our planes is not always so wide as we think. We are never far; we will watch over you and cheer you on from this Side until the day comes that you join us...which I hope will not be for a great many years yet." Meketatum smiled, then winked. "It's the least we can do."_

She felt...privileged...to have met Atem's family. Though the outcome had naturally been somewhat disappointing, she had to admit that the Pharaoh was right: she and he would never have worked out in the end. He still loved all of them, still missed them, and would continue to value their friendship so long as they were willing to give it...even if he wasn't right there next to them anymore.

That did not, however, mean that her feelings were so easily gotten over.

"I know that both of you have your reasons for not wanting to come," Yugi had said, looking away briefly. "But...this may be one of the last times we can really enjoy all being together like this. There's only this year left at school before we all graduate, and then…" — he shrugged, then met their eyes again — "then life might all pull us our separate ways. We might not get too many more chances like this one."

Tristan and Téa agreed to the outing.

**.:Y:.:Y:.:Y:.**

"'Separate ways' sooner than we thought, apparently," Téa muttered to herself, looking around for her friends. One second they had all been together and the next they were all lost in the crowd!

She'd texted Yugi, and he said to meet them by the Shadow Ghoul maze, but she didn't know where that was. Kaiba had introduced several new attractions this year, including a Red-Eyes Rollercoaster and a Zombie World haunted attraction (of course Bakura would want to go to _that_ one!).

"Ugh...where's a map when you need one…" she grumbled, casting her eyes about the thoroughfare. Ugh...she supposed KaibaCorp _had_ provided an _app_ to go along with their high-tech amusement park...but just to find a ride? Kaiba also had several of those little help robots stationed in every section...surely she could simply find and ask one of them…

A sniffling broke her train of thought. What was that?

"Hector?" Another sniff. "Hector...where'd you go?!" Téa turned: a young boy, no more than six, stood some feet away looking scared and horribly confused.

"Hi there, sweetie," she greeted, smiling as she approached him. The boy regarded her warily. "Are you lost?"

"I'm here with my brother...but I can't find him…" The boy looked around again, then back at Téa.

"Oh no!" she said. "Where did you see him last? I'll help you find him!" But the boy shook his head.

"Mommy says I'm not supposed to go with strangers…" he frowned, clutching his little backpack. Téa sighed, but nodded.

"Your mother is a smart lady," she replied, forcing herself to smile at the boy. A shame Yugi wasn't there; the King of Games was sure to be recognized and get farther at helping the boy than she was. "My mommy taught me the same thing. My name's Téa, by the way. What's yours?"

"Henry."

"Well, I know you can't come _with_ me, but maybe we can find someone who works here and they can page your brother. What about that?"

The child sniffed at her, thinking about it. "Maybe…" he ventured at last, and she sighed. Well, he was a smart kid, that much was true. In any other situation, it would be an advantage. She stood up again: some people in the crowd were moving aside, and through that parting she saw a familiar tall figure with even more familiar coattails.

"Kaiba!" she cried out, waving her arm at him almost frantically. If nothing else, he _owned_ the park — heck he practically owned Domino City — and the boy was sure to recognize _him._ "KAIBA!" Eyes narrowing, the young CEO stopped, turning his head to face her.

"What do you want?" he growled, crossing his arms. Téa bristled.

"For your information, I just happen to have found a child who's lost!" she said, indignant. "He's looking for his brother, but he can't find him! Can't you use your comm-link or something to see if someone's reported a missing child?!" Seriously, his _attitude!_ But something in Kaiba's countenance had changed, and he strode over to where she stood with Henry, Mokuba by his side.

"Hi, Téa," he greeted, waving at her. She smiled, then both of them turned back to the boy. Seto was sinking down on his haunches now, the better to meet Henry's eyes with.

"You were with your brother?" Kaiba asked, and the child nodded. Kaiba reached for his lapel. "I have a lost boy over in Section C. Blue hair, six years old...he's wearing one of last year's 'Flight of the Blue-Eyes' t-shirts...notify me immediately if anyone comes asking." The boy's eyes widened, and he looked to the CEO in awe.

"You're Seto Kaiba!" he said (' _Great,'_ Téa thought, ' _Just what_ his _ego needs!'_ ), before turning to Téa again. "You're friends with Mr. Kaiba?!"

"We're classmates," she corrected quickly, before Kaiba could retort otherwise.

"And what's your name?" he asked. Téa was genuinely surprised to see a real smile on the CEO's face.

"I'm Henry Jamison," he said excitedly.

"Henry Jamison," Kaiba repeated into his lapel. "See if you can find his brother. _Discreetly_." He turned back to the child. "You like dragons, I see. They're my favorites, too."

"I like the Red-Eyes!" Henry cheerfully proclaimed. Mokuba and Téa exchanged a look. Kaiba's cheek twitched at the mention of Wheeler's ace, but he only nodded.

"Blue-Eyes is more powerful, but I suppose Red-Eyes is fine for second-best," he said, and Téa sighed. She supposed it was as good as they would get from Kaiba. He wasn't technically _wrong_...Blue-Eyes did start out at a base of 3000 attack points to Red-Eyes' 2400…but it was _how_ you played the card that counted, not necessarily AP! Joey was an _excellent_ Duelist!

"I like Blue-Eyes too!" Henry chirped. He punched the air. " _White Lightning!"_ Mokuba snorted, and Téa had to laugh at the boy's antics, herself. The answer seemed to satisfy Kaiba, who stood and talked into his lapel again, checking on the search's progress. Nobody had come forward, but records showed that at least two Jamison had indeed entered the park. They were going to find the elder brother now. The minutes crept by. Kaiba was surprisingly patient, though Téa felt certain that the boy's love of all things dragon helped. He thought Seto's Blue-Eyes jet _very_ cool, and was going to ask for the toy version from Santa Claus this year.

At the ten-minute mark, Seto spoke into his lapel again. "What's taking so long?" He kept his voice even, but Henry frowned anyway, looking sadly at the ground. It could not be convenient for Mr. Kaiba to keep putting his day on hold…

"He's _not_...? Well where on Earth could he be?" KaibaLand Domino wasn't the smallest one out there, but it wasn't exactly Disney's Animal Kingdom, either. Kaiba gave careful instructions to his men, then sighed.

"Well, Kid, they haven't found your brother yet," he said. He genuinely sounded upset, though Téa couldn't tell if that was for the boy or for all the work he hadn't gotten done yet. Henry sighed.

"He probably forgot me on purpose," he mumbled. Kaiba's eyebrow twitched.

"Come again?" he asked. Henry shuffled his feet, hugging his backpack to his chest again. Téa's heart sank, and she exchanged a look with Mokuba. The younger Kaiba was frowning now, and his eyebrows knitted in a look of realization — the bad kind.

"Hector doesn't really like me," Henry explained, feeling his cheeks heat up. "He and his friends are always pushing me and calling me names and saying what a noo-sence I am..." He shuffled his feet again, and Téa could see a minute tightening of Kaiba's jaw before it relaxed again. Was he... _angry?_ Beside her, Mokuba's sweet expression had narrowed into a full-on glare.

"Run another check on those names," Seto said into his lapel. "Let me know what you find. And hold all my calls for the next two hours." He knelt down in front of the boy again.

"Well, Henry...looks like you're getting the VIP tour today," he said. Téa stared, then turned her head to Mokuba. He returned her gaze: his mouth no longer angry but rather upturned in a knowing smirk. She gave a small shake of her head, willing him to give her some clue what was going on...but he only crossed his arms and turned back to Henry. She'd find out soon enough what Seto was up to.

"'VIP tour'?" Henry repeated.

"He means you get to come with us on all the rides," Mokuba explained. "You can come too, Téa," he added, and her eyes widened. She knew Kaiba had a heart underneath all that hard shell — she'd seen it, repeatedly, manifesting itself in hard-to-see ways. Usually in relation to Mokuba, but he had saved the group more than once, too...even when he hadn't believed that what was going on was real, even when he doubted that there was a second 'Yugi'. Without his assistance in the Memory World, they might never have won. Kaiba had protected them from Zorc's wrath, buying them the time they needed to give Atem his true name.

(Her heart couldn't help but twist at the thought of her friend. She still missed him. They all did.)

Téa had not, however, believed that any of Kaiba's rare altruism would manifest itself for a random stranger, even if that kid _did_ happen to be a huge fan. Henry's face was lighting up..

"Really?!"

"I don't tell lies, Kid." Henry hugged his backpack in excitement...but just as suddenly it died down.

"But wait," he said with a frown. "Won't my brother have a hard time finding me if I don't stay in one place?" Kaiba had to hand it to him — Henry had a good little head on his shoulders.

"My people are on it," Seto replied, uncharacteristically kind. "As soon as they find him, they'll tell him where to find us." He stood.

"What's your favorite ride?" Kaiba asked then, and the boy grinned.

"I wanna go on the new Red-Eyes Rollercoaster'!" Henry exclaimed. Téa could've sworn she saw Kaiba's jaw tighten, but he kept his composure.

"Fair enough. C'mon, Kid...this way." Henry did a little jump, then reached up to catch the CEO's hand. Téa looked to Mokuba.

"Did we just enter a parallel universe?" she asked, pointing. Mokuba snorted and smirked.

"There's a lot about my brother you don't know," he said smugly. He took a few steps, then beckoned back to her. "C'mon, Téa — with us you get a pass to the front of all the lines!"

**.:Y:.:Y:.:Y:.**

True to Mokuba's word, they didn't have to wait at all. As their party approached 'Red-Eyes Rollercoaster', a worker immediately gestured to them. They didn't even have to move through the LightningPass lines: Kaiba simply used the employee entrances and exits to get to the front. They went on the roller coaster three times before Henry asked if they could go on another one: the Magical Hats ride, which was similar to the little teacup rides so many amusement parks had different versions of. They didn't have to wait in line for that one, either.

"All _right!_ " Henry cheered, piling into a hat. "This is so awesome!"

(Or it _would_ have been if Kaiba and Mokuba hadn't had a competition to see who could spin the hat faster! Kaiba, having the longer arms and bigger muscles, won.)

"Whoa," Téa stepped out of the hat, swaying a bit from the spinning. Kaiba caught her by the arm.

"Careful," he said. Her cheeks flushed.

"Sorry, Téa...we shouldn't have spun the hat so much," Mokuba said. Henry, naturally, was fine and dandy.

"...I'll be fine," she assured him, standing up a little straighter as the dizziness abated.

"I wanna go on the Jurassic Impact ride!" Henry exclaimed.

"'Jurassic Impact'?" Téa repeated.

"It's our new boat ride," Mokuba told her. "It's got dinosaurs and stuff. You get wet!"

"Great." But she followed along anyway, checking her phone for messages. Sure enough, Yugi in the group text was asking where she'd gotten to.

' _Are you ok?'_ his text read.

' _U should've been here by now!'_ Tristan was next.

' _If u dont txt back in 2 minutes we're going to get the robot 2 page u all over the system >:( '_ Joey threatened. That had only just come in, but she hurried to text back anyway.

' _I'm fine — sry,"_ she typed and Sent, before they could worry more. ' _Found a lost kid on the way.'_

' _Lost kid? Does he need help finding his parents?'_ Yugi asked.

' _No — Kaiba's helping him."_

' _*Our*_ _Kaiba?! 0.0"_ (Joey again.)

' _Yeah. He's here with his brother or something but they can't find him. Kaiba's got his people on it. You guys go on and enjoy yourselves...but if you happen to run into a guy named Hector Jamison, give us a text, okay?'_

' _Will do,'_ Tristan responded.

' _You're sure?'_ Yugi asked.

' _Yeah. I'm the one who found him.'_ What she didn't say was that she also wanted to know why his brother wasn't coming to find him — or what had gone on that he hadn't. Even if he didn't like Henry (and Téa was having a hard time figuring out how he _couldn't_ ), he wouldn't really just _leave_ him on his own, would he? Not all siblings were as close as Joey and Serenity, but they still usually had each other's backs in the end...didn't they? ' _I want to make sure something else hasn't happened, you know?'_

' _Sure, we understand :) Keep us in the loop & we'll let you know if we run into his brother!'_

"Everything okay, Téa?" Mokuba asked. "You can go back to your friends if-"

"It's all right — they just wanted to make sure I was okay," she said. "I'm not that big a fan of Zombie World, anyway." Bless Bakura, but that was one experience she could definitely do without. Joey probably could, too. Mokuba laughed.

"That's one of our most popular attractions — you're in the minority, there!" he laughed. Ahead of them, Henry was talking Kaiba's ear off about dragons and the CEO looked like he was enjoying every word of it.

Jurassic Impact was across the park from the Magical Hats ride, but Mokuba called for a cart so they didn't have to walk the whole way. Téa nodded approvingly as she climbed in next to the younger Kaiba — she could get used to this VIP treatment! As Henry looked around excitedly at the colors and sights of the park, Seto spoke into his lapel again. Mokuba touched his finger to his own ear, apparently listening as well. The sigh from the elder and look of dismay from the younger told Téa everything she needed to know about the search. His brother still hadn't been found. Kaiba's jaw tightened again, and Mokuba glared out the side of the cart. What on Earth?

She texted Yugi again, just in case. They'd been keeping their ears out, but so far they'd had no success, either.

' _Though truly - if Kaiba hasn't found him yet, *we're* not going to,"_ Bakura joined their conversation. Téa sighed, but that was probably the truth.

' _Right now, I think you're doing the best you can for him: keeping him busy so he doesn't freak out,'_ Duke added _._

' _Kaiba's doing most of the work,'_ Téa responded, kind of surprising herself as she realized just how true that was. Henry was completely enamored of the older boy; she and Mokuba had pretty much sat back and _watched_.

' _But you're the one that found him and got Kaiba's attention, right? It's a good thing you were there, Téa :)'_ Serenity responded, and Téa had to smile at the compliment. She supposed she _had_ flagged them down...still, how awful. What on Earth had happened to his brother?

The rafts at Jurassic Impact were meant to get wet, so Kaiba duffed his sleeveless trenchcoat and left it with a worker near the front. Mokuba did the same with his suit jacket, but he and Henry were _itching_ for the water.

Mokuba grinned. "Téa, you sit next to my brother — _I_ wanna get _soaked!_ " Téa grumbled but kept her unpleasant thoughts to herself. Of all the places in the world she wanted to be, sitting next to Seto Kaiba was _not_ one of them. Still, she wanted to get wet even less, and the middle of the 'raft' had the best chance of making that happen. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Those suits don't come cheap, you know," he grumbled, helping Henry down into the raft then climbing in himself. He looked weird without his white coat: all black and belts and buckles. His and Yugi's taste weren't so different after all, it turned out. Kaiba seemed just as reluctant about the seating arrangements as Téa, but he didn't say anything as she gingerly sat down beside him. Mokuba hopped in after Téa, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

"Ah, _yeah_ — it's been _so long_ since we've been on something like this, Seto! Remember the one in California?"

"The concept was decent, but its execution was second-rate," Kaiba said derisively. "Our design is far superior." Beside him, Henry was practically bouncing out of his seat.

"I can't wait to see the Red-Eyes!" he exclaimed, and Téa raised an eyebrow.

"Red-Eyes?" she asked. "But that's a dragon, not a dinosaur…"

"Yeah, well...we kinda cheated it a bit," Mokuba said, as other guests were ferried into the seats behind them. "Seto thought it would be more popular if it wasn't _all_ dinosaurs" - of course he did - "so we brought in some of the dragon-types, too."

"I see."

"It _wouldn't_ be as popular if it was just dinosaurs," Kaiba harrumphed, crossing his arms.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen - welcome to Jurassic Impact! Please keep your arms and legs inside the raft at all times. Hang on tight, and enjoy your ride!"_

The raft was pulled up a hill and then tumbled down a few feet to make a little splash. It floated through a 'wilderness' filled with all manner of dino-type Duel Monsters. Some of them were holograms, but others seemed to be more solid than even KaibaCorp's usual 3D illusions. She pointed at a Bracchio-Raidus, towering over them. "Is that... _real?_ "

"No, of course not," Kaiba answered, smirking. Téa glared at him.

"Ohhh...you know what I mean!" she exclaimed. "I meant, 'is it a real puppet and not a hologram'!"

"You mean an _animatronic?_ Yes, it is."

The ride passed another set of monsters — there laid Henry's Red-Eyes on a rock, sunning itself and happily blowing fire.

"That's an animatronic too, by the way," Kaiba snarked. Téa raised an eyebrow at his arrogance but decided not to comment on it; he was obviously fishing for a rise out of her.

"What made you decide to go with animatronics for some of it over your holograms?" she asked instead.

"Efficiency, mostly," Mokuba spoke up, looking around at all the peaceful dinos and dragons, himself. "In a duel, the best Duelists get more creative so the holograms have to be ready for anything...but on a ride, they kind of have to do the same things over and over again so all the guests get a good experience. They show up better in pictures, too."

"Ours are still better than anything the other parks have to offer," Kaiba said matter-of-factly. "That Bracchio-Raidus can do more than just move its head back and forth."

"Every few rafts it'll bend its neck down so it can 'look' at guests. It even reacts when you pet it," Mokuba said proudly. He got a grin on his face. "Mixing up our animatronics with holograms that way also messes with everybody so they're never sure what's real and what's not. They love it!"

"Heck yeah we do!" some guy in the row behind them spoke up. "This 'ere's my girl's favorite ride!"

"Yeah it's awesome!" Another guest spoke up. The raft cheered, and Téa had to hand it to them — as annoying as Kaiba could be on a regular basis, he and his company _never_ did anything halfway.

They entered an area called the Rexes' Rock...and witnessed a pack of Trakodons raiding a raft.

"Whoa," Henry stared at the sight in apprehension. He was _very_ glad to be sitting next to Mr. Kaiba. Téa also found herself...less opposed than before to be sandwiched between the two brothers. The animatronics might do the same things over and over again...but the holograms had no such limits. They were completely randomized, and the scenes themselves grew more ominous as more predatory Duel Monsters were thrown into the mix. A loud growl was heard from behind.

"What the-!" Téa shrieked as the raft was yanked up a hill at high speed...its passengers had narrowly avoided being eaten by a Two-Headed King Rex!

"Whoa!" Henry chirped, then shrieked as the raft plunged into darkness. A short drop, then varied expressions of delight and disgust as water splashed them. Téa was dreading the end of the ride. The biggest plunge always occurred at the end of the ride. They _had_ to be getting close.

And they were: a whirring noise as the raft sped up: a Tyrant Dragon had begun its pursuit, chasing the voyagers and shooting fireballs at them! All hope seemed lost, but then a Blue-Eyes burst in through a wall, creating an escape route for the hapless humans. Roaring mightily, it blasted back the other dragon with White Lightning...and the riders careened down a waterfall to safety.

" _Oh,_ no…" Téa hunched over in her seat, trying to make as little surface area as possible for the water to land on. Beside her, Kaiba was also cross-armed and hunched in his seat, obviously attempting the same thing.

"Ah _yeah!"_ Mokuba exclaimed, as the cold water hit them _all_. Henry was delighted, clapping his hands and squishing in his shoes. The raft turned the final bend and slowed down.

" _Please do not exit the raft until the vehicle comes to a complete stop. Thank you for riding_ Jurassic Impact _, and enjoy the rest of your day at KaibaLand!"_ Seto and Mokuba grabbed their respective jackets, Mokuba laughing as much as Henry was.

"That was _awesome!_ " he exclaimed, paying no heed to the fact that his brother was shaking his arms and legs about like an idiot in his attempt to get dry. Téa was more soaked than she wanted to be, too, but at least her boots had kept her feet from getting wet.

"Blue-Eyes Ride! Blue-Eyes Ride! Blue-Eyes Ride!" Henry chanted. Kaiba shook out his hair.

"Sure, kid," he mumbled. At least that ride would help dry them off and 'Flight of the Blue-Eyes' wasn't that far away.

" _Mr Kaiba?"_ Kaiba touched his lapel.

"Yes?"

" _We've found the boy's brother."_

"Have you?"

" _Yes. It was the Jamison we'd asked before-"_

"He lied?!"

" _Appears so. A review of the cameras shows him entering the park with the boy and leaving him later...just around the area where Miss Gardner found him."_

"Is that right." Téa looked back and forth to Mokuba and Kaiba; the elder's jaw had tightened again and Mokuba looked _angry_. Had something happened? Henry looked at her.

"What's going on?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"I'm not sure, but don't worry — Mr Kaiba will figure it out."

"Ferry him and his 'friends' to Flight of the Blue Eyes — I want to handle _this_ one _myself_." A pause. "Excellent." He let go of his comm-link and extended a hand to Henry. "Let's go."

"Is something wrong?" Henry asked. "Have you found my brother?"

"It's as I said — my men are on it. Let's go get you that ride first." Henry shrugged but didn't argue. Kaiba had a devious smile on his face.

"What's really going on, Mokuba?" Téa whispered, falling back in line next to the younger Kaiba.

"The kid they talked to lied before," he whispered back. "He abandoned Henry on purpose."

"Seriously?"

" _Shhh!_ " Mokuba put a finger to his lips. "Seto wants to handle this himself!" Henry and Kaiba turned around.

"I, uh...stubbed my toe," Téa quickly said. Kaiba cocked an eyebrow but they started walking again. She turned back to Mokuba.

"Seriously?!" she said, her voice hushed. "Why on Earth would he do that?! _Anyone_ could have taken his brother!"

"Exactly. Roland's rounding them up right now. I don't know exactly what Seto's planning, but he's going to do something. He's _mad_."

' _Mad about the abandonment, or mad because that would've been bad publicity for the company?'_ Téa wondered. If she were a betting person (which she wasn't, normally), she'd put money down on the second. Though he _had_ been unusually kind during this whole ordeal…

She paused, reaching to grab her phone and text Yugi.

' _Meet us Flight of Blue Eyes — K found the brother.'_

' _Took him long enough,'_ Joey replied.

' _Wasn't K's fault...the brother lied,"_ Téa responded, irritated.

" _0.0 Y?"_

" _Don't know but M says K's going to 'handle it' — w/e that means.'_

' _0.0'_ Yugi this time.

' _This I gotta see,"_ Tristan answered.

Henry shrieked in delight as they approached _Flight of the Blue-Eyes_ , literally hopping up and down with excitement. Like all the rides before them, Kaiba slipped them inside the employee entrances and got to the front that way.

"Go go go go go!" Henry cheered.

"Hang on to your seat, kid," Kaiba warned. "This one's pretty intense."

"It shoots you up really fast!" Mokuba grinned at him. "The best part? You never know exactly _when_ they're going to start it!"

" _And away we go! In — 5 — 4 — 3 — 2 — 1!"_

" _Eeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"_ Up-and-down and up-and-down and through a tunnel and around a curve and up-and-down again! Mokuba was screaming, too — and looking like he was having the time of his life! Guitar music blasted through the speakers. The dragon rounded a wide corner over the lake...and then down another hill and into a loop-de-loop and up another hill! At last, they flew up the last small hill...and into a series of brakes.

"Ah MAN! That was SO AWESOME!" Henry shouted, pumping his arms in the air. Kaiba smirked, then spoke into his lapel.

"Is everyone here?" he asked. A pause. "Excellent." He looked to Henry. "Good news, Kid — they found your brother. He and his friends are waiting outside the ride for us."

"...Oh." Henry's face fell, and he quickly pointed his eyes at the ground. "That's good." Kaiba and Mokuba exchanged another look. Kaiba patted Henry on the shoulder.

"Follow me — I'm sure he's anxiously awaiting your arrival." From Kaiba's tone, it sounded like it hadn't been optional. Well, for once, Téa was on his side — how could that kid just _abandon_ his little brother?! If she hadn't come along...and Kaiba hadn't helped…

The group of four walked down the exit: three other suits were waiting with Roland...and in front of them, three other boys who looked to be about 12 years old. A flash of familiar tri-colored hair caught Téa's eye: off to the side, her friends stood waiting as well. Yugi pointed to the suits, and Téa nodded...then held up her hand and pointed to Kaiba, who strode forward.

"So," he said, moving his hand to his hip in his typical pose, " _you're_ the little punks who thought it'd be fun to just _abandon_ your brother in the middle of an amusement park."

"We didn't abandon him!" the center boy protested. _That must be Hector,_ Téa thought. He had the same color hair as Henry did, and similar facial features. "He wandered away! Henry, you _know_ what Mom said about that...she's not gonna be happy when we tell her you disobeyed again!" The boy crossed his arms and shook his head in a 'tsk tsk' sort of way.

"But I didn't wander off!" Henry cried. He turned his head to look up at Kaiba. "Somebody pushed me and when I looked around I couldn't find anybody! I kept calling and calling and nobody came!"

"I believe you, Kid," he said, crossing his arms. Hector balked.

"Mr. Kaiba, we've been looking for him for _hours!"_ he protested. He looked to Henry again. "Mom's gonna ground _you_ for a month!" Téa could swear she heard a smugness in his voice, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why that little-" Joey started to move, but Yugi stopped him.

"Is that so," Kaiba said then, unimpressed. "'Hours', you say? That's funny, because I have video footage that says otherwise." Hector swallowed.

"It-it must have made a mistake—"

" _My technology doesn't make mistakes,"_ Kaiba growled. "Even if by some 1-in-99.999 percent _chance_ my system was _hacked_ and the cameras conveniently picked up the wrong boys _all over the park_...that doesn't explain why you denied who you were when my men approached you and asked if you were missing your brother. It doesn't explain why you've ignored the repeated pages for you to go to the nearest information kiosk. Or why you lied to me just now about 'looking' for your brother for 'hours'."

"But we-"

"Oh please, kid — just who do you think you're dealing with?! You're on _my_ turf...those wristbands you're wearing not only give you access to the park and rides, they timestamp everything and track your location as long as you're wearing them! It's been barely 90 minutes since you arrived and Henry has been with us for the last 60. The only reason you got away with your little charade for _this_ long is because my workers couldn't fathom that someone would just _abandon_ their little brother in the middle of a park!" The girl who had spoken to Hector the first time had believed him when he said he did not have any siblings. It had taken another look at the cameras by Roland himself to discover the truth.

" _You disgust me_." The vitriol in Kaiba's voice could not be mistaken, and Téa stared at him in surprise. "Brothers are supposed to _care_ about what happens to each other...they're supposed to look out for and _protect_ one another...but _you..._ you just up and _abandon_ yours in the middle of a crowd where any _psycho_ could come along and snatch him away! Family is all we have. _Family_ " — Kaiba emphasized the word — " _should_ be able to depend on each other!" He lunged, grabbing Hector by the front of his shirt and dragging him forward to glower in the boy's face. Roland had already corroborated Henry's story...and then some.

"I would go through Hell and back to ensure Mokuba's safety. Older brothers are supposed to _protect_ our siblings...not _bully_ them. He can do better with _ou_ t you, and you certainly don't deserve _him_. You _disgust_ me." He let go, shoving Hector back.

"Get these three out of my sight!" he barked at the workers. "Roland...once they've been escorted off the premises, see to it that they're permanently banned from any and all of our parks, this one _and_ future projects-"

" _WHAAAATTT?!"_ A chorus of despair rose up.

"You can't throw us out of the park!" Hector protested indignantly.

"My surname says otherwise," Kaiba spat. "I don't tolerate bullies _anywhere_ , much less my own property. We built this park for _families_ , and you clearly don't know what that means. _Out_." But Henry urgently tugged on his hand.

"Mr. Kaiba, please don't ban him forever!" he said. "If you ban him then my mom and I can't come back, either!"

"I didn't ban you or your mother. _You're_ welcome back any time."

"But we won't be a family then because Hector won't be with us!" Kaiba paused, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Hector stared at Henry in awe.

" _Please?_ " Henry begged again, looking at the CEO. "I don't want him to be banned forever! He has lots of fun here, too!" Hector exchanged glances with his friends; Téa noted that they finally had the good grace to look ashamed. Kaiba moved his gaze back and forth between the four boys.

"...If you insist," he said at last. He nodded at his men, and the boys were released. "You three have one more chance...but let's make something clear: if I _ever_ hear you doing _anything_ else of the sort to your brother, your ban will be immediate and it will be _permanent_. Do you understand?" The boys, thoroughly humbled now, nodded. Kaiba sank down to better see Henry.

"He mistreats you again...you just find one of those robots and they'll put you through to me. I'm not kidding about the blacklist." Henry nodded, then wrapped his arms around Kaiba's neck. To Joey's acute shock, the CEO returned it.

"Thank you," Henry said, backing away. "And thank you for taking me on all those rides!"

"Glad you liked them."

Henry beamed at him, then scampered across the asphalt to his brother and friends. He and Hector stared at each other for a moment...and then Henry hugged him, too. Hector hugged him back. Soon, the four boys were off through the park again...and this time, Téa noted with satisfaction, Hector was right beside his little brother. Beside her, both Kaibas were also watching with similar expressions.

"So eh...did we just see what we think we saw?" Joey asked, the rest of the group coming over to stand in front of the _Blue-Eyes_ exit.

"What."

"You bein' a nice guy, for one thing!" Joey exclaimed. Kaiba snorted.

"A kid was lost at my park and his family refused to come forward. It would've been horrible publicity if someone had snatched him from here. 'Nice' has nothing to do with it." Joey glared at him, but Yugi chuckled.

"If you say so, Kaiba," he commented. Seto cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing else.

"I say...would you _really_ have banned them for good?" Bakura asked.

"If his brother hadn't come through, yes. Like I said, I don't tolerate bullies." At this Joey exchanged a glance with Yugi. The smile had not left the King of Games' face.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've lost enough time for today." Kaiba began to walk off; Mokuba waved at the group goodbye. Téa squinted. There was the Kaiba she knew...a far cry from the young man who had just watched a kid and talked about dragons with him for two hours.

"Eh, c'mon, Téa! We don't need Rich Boy" — ' _We're in_ his _amusement park,_ ' Téa thought — "let's go get on that new Red-Eyes ride! We got the LightningPass for it!"

"Sure." Téa started to follow, then stopped. "Actually, guys — I'll catch up with you. I forgot to thank Mokuba for the rides." She darted away, hurrying after the brothers. Luckily for her, Seto Kaiba didn't _run_ anywhere. Not unless it were absolutely necessary.

"Kaiba!" The CEO stopped, turning around as if it were the most difficult thing in the world.

"Gardner, I _swear_...if you found _another_ lost kid…"

"You did all that on purpose, didn't you?" she interrupted. Kaiba crossed his arms.

"...Did what?"

"The whole...setup...with banning that boy and his friends...you _knew_ his brother would come through." A pause. A slight upward twitch of the lips.

"...I thought he _might_." With a flap of his trenchcoat, the CEO turned and walked away. Mokuba grinned at Téa.

"Thanks for your help with Henry," he said. "I'm glad you were there. Seto and I have to get back to work, but enjoy the rest of your day!" He waved, then hurried to follow after his brother. Téa returned the gesture, then headed back to her friends. Yugi was still standing by the exit, having sent Joey and the others ahead.

"You didn't have to wait for me, you know," she said, falling into step beside Yugi.

"I know," he said cheerfully. "So...you caught that too, huh?"

"Huh? Caught what?"

"Kaiba. That scene back there with the kids. You know he did that on purpose, right?" Téa let out a soft chuckle. If the King of Games had caught it, her instinct couldn't have been too far off.

"He said it was a 'business decision'," she commented.

"He said it was a business decision," Yugi agreed. They exchanged a laugh and went to join their friends.

**.:Y:.:Y:.:Y:.**

"Ready ta ride this thing?" Joey grinned, rubbing his hands together. They could see the dragon-shaped train coming in now; in just another run or two, it would be their turn.

"We rode it last time we were here, Joey…"

"Hey — look." Yugi pointed: a few people ahead of their expanded group stood Henry and Hector, and Hector's friends. The younger boy was talking excitedly...and getting enthusiastic responses in kind. Téa smiled, her friends following suit.

'Business decision', indeed.  
  


* * *

 ** _  
_AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _  
_

Another character I've never written for before: the obsessive egotist Seto Kaiba. I recognize he's a character that's neither openly affectionate for anyone except Mokuba, nor is he openly kind. That said, he does help the group when the chips are down...even going so far to defend them defend them against Zorc despite not being sure any of it is real. For those naysayers who say he wouldn't have steadied Téa...he physically catches Joey when he starts falling off Tristan's back in S4, and he doesn't even like Joey. He has a heart, it's just a little one ;)

(That said, I hope he's not _too_ nice, here!)

Originally Hector was supposed to be banned and Henry would have spent the rest of the day with Kaiba and the others...but at the last second it occurred to me that Henry would not want that to happen, so I changed it :)

—The "LightningPass", is, of course, a play on Disney Parks' "FastPass"...but more dragon-related XD The wristbands are also based on the system used by Disney Parks.

—The "Jurassic Impact" ride is based on _Jurassic Park: The Ride_ at Universal Studios: Hollywood and was originally supposed to be called "Jurassic World" after the Field spell in Duel Monsters...but given that _Jurassic World_ is an actual movie (starring Chris Pratt and it is AWESOME), and now an actual ride at Universal Studios, I elected to name it after the Trap card "Jurassic Impact" instead ;)

(Ironic that's the ride they spend the most time on: I hated Jurassic Park and no I did not want to get wet XD And YES, Kaiba's right...IT ABSOLUTELY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER WITH DRAGONS! ;)

As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you all for reading — leave a review if you liked it!

Keep on Rockin' in 2020!  
—MoonlightTyger  
  


* * *

 ** _ **  
KaibaLand Rides based on the following:  
**_  
** ‘Red-Eyes Rollercoaster’: _based on_ ‘Colossus The Fire Dragon’ — _Lagoon; Farmington, UT_  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV79-YhSsEg  
  
\-- -- -- -- --  
  
‘Magical Hats’: _based on_ ‘Mad Tea Party’ — _Disneyland; Anaheim, CA_  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwhS9qGvmRE  
  
\-- -- -- -- --  
  
‘Jurassic Impact’: _based on_ ‘Jurassic Park: The Ride’ [NOW CLOSED] _— Universal Studios; Hollywood, CA_  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHP4It4XRvw&t=94s  
  
 _-and-  
_  
‘Jurassic World: The Ride’ — _Universal Studios; Hollywood, CA_  
https://youtu.be/KHv6hKvEzMg  
  
 _Admittedly, I embellished this ride for the story. There’s nothing that chases you before you go up the final hill and it doesn’t chase you in the warehouse. But that’s Universal Studios, not KaibaLand ;) KaibaLand can do things like that ;)_  
  
\-- -- -- -- --  
  
‘Flight of the Blue-Eyes’: _based on_ ‘California Screamin’ [NOW CLOSED] — _Disney’s California Adventure (Disneyland Resort); Anaheim, CA_  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j38K8-7IpHM  
  
 _Full soundtrack to_ ‘California Screamin’ _...because the ride isn’t complete without it!_ :D  
https://youtu.be/eppB_3rTMg0  
  
 _I initially wanted Colossus to stand in for ‘Flight of the Blue-Eyes’ as it’s not only a bit of a more intense ride, it’s also a unique one: it is the last double-looping Schwarzkopf coaster in the U.S. But in the end I couldn’t resist Neil Patrick Harris’ mischievous voice and countdown, and the soundtrack that made_ California Screamin _’ so much fun! :D The color scheme of California Screamin’ also lent itself more to a Blue-Eyes theme, while Colossus’ name lends itself to Red-Eyes :)  
  
_ (Yes...I have personally been on all these rides except for the Jurassic World one...and it doesn’t quite count as it’s mostly a revamped Jurassic Park ride ;) ) _  
_


End file.
